Contact-free solution for millimeter-wave on-wafer VNA measurements

Design procedure and simulation results of a contact-free transition for mmW VNA-based on-wafer measurements are presented. The tightly compressed configuration of the proposed design in addition to its compatibility with standard silicon fabrication processes are among its remarkable characteristics. The radiation loss at the transition region which is the most troublous side effect in non-contact probing is extensively suppressed in the present work. The configuration shows more than 10 dB of return losses almost in the entire D band (110 ∼ 170 GHz). In addition, less than 0.8 dB of insertion losses is achieved in the simulations in the same frequency band.